We stopped for lunch and had a lot of fun talking and just generally enjoying one of the last lunches that we'll have in Germany. It certainly helped that we ate outside in the sun with a beautiful backdrop. I don't think anyone ordered a single non-German thing, which is surprising in a group as big as ours. I think everyone came to the same conclusion that we can have comfort food in less than 5 days and we should enjoy the genuine schnitzel and wurst while we still can. After that, we rode just a little bit more to the Remagen bridge. It was one of the bridges that helped out the Ally powers tremendously by being one of the only places where the river could be crossed without boats. This bridge shipped people, supplies, and tanks across the river for 10 days before it finally collapsed from all the weight that it was forced to hold. Some historians calculated that if this bridge did not exist, then the Berlin wall would have been standing for months longer than it actually was. There was a museum built by one of the veterans (he was 15 when he was shipped off) that is devoted to peace and showing the history of the area. It was pretty cool.
The backdrop to our lunch
It was wonderful outside
Half of the bridge. The other half held the museum inside
Then we started back. While the ride up was really nice, the ride back was not as calming. The bike seats had almost no cushion, so whenever we pedaled, our rears would chafe against the seat. No joke, people had bruises today because of the seats. It also seemed a lot longer to get back, and at one point when I saw that I still had 8 km left until I reached Bonn, I comforted myself with the fact that at least it was a shorter distance than my leg in the marathon. I returned my bike and went to the store to grab some cheese for my grilled cheese sandwiches that I would be making for my family on Sunday before heading to Old AIB for the farewell party. When I showed up, half of the group from my program was either asleep or sitting bonelessly on the ground in an effort to minimize their pain from the ride. The party was a lot of fun and we had a ton of fun singing along with the band that was playing while we ate German Barbeque. Unfortunately, my host mom was not feeling good, so she couldn't come to the party. At the end, we watched the presentation with all of our pictures in it and laughed at the clever things that made up a majority of the presentation (thanks Austin!!).
How we all felt after that ride
We had some people sing "Ring of Fire"
When the party was done, I went back to new AIB and played Catan with two of my classmates and Sarah. Yup, we got out teacher to play a strategy game with us, and she beat us. It's official, it matters not who you are, my teacher is better than yours. Anyway, we used that time to relax and use up time before the Rhein in Flammen, which was a fireworks show on the Rhein. I don't know why it was that day, but it was and we wanted to see it. I went with three others and we all hopped on the tram going towards the show. When we got to the stop, we got off and were confused on where to go due a lack of general movement in one direction. We ended going off to a side and just started looking for the Rhein so we could see the show. When it started, we were still a ways away, but with a new beacon showing where we needed to go, we ran in the dark until we found a good spot. The show was awesome, and was made even better by the fact that the bank we sat on wasn't completely overrun by people. When the show ended, we walked back to the tram stop, and were immediately glad that we had split off. The amount of people who were coming from the opposite direction was astounding! Luckily we arrived at the tram stop at the right time and were able to get into the line fairly easily. Once on the tram, I waited until my stop came up, said goodbye to my friends, and walked home. I got back at about 12:40, which is why I only covered two of the three days yesterday. I had no time to write during the day and I was tired at night.
I got some pretty cool photos
Just look at these things!
They're beautiful
I love fireworks
This morning, I woke up to go to the last German mass of the semester at the Munster. Unfortunately, I was late because the buses were late. It was alright though, because I still made it to mass. After mass, I hung out at AIB waiting for someone to take the keys from me. I fell asleep at one point because I woke up to someone knocking on the window wanting me to let them in. Then I went back to my host home and had strawberry short cake with my host family while watching Harry Potter und der Halbblutprinz on TV. Then I made grilled cheddar cheese sandwiched because my host family had never had them before. They said that they liked it though. All in all, it was a relaxing day. I was able to call my Nana on her birthday, which was nice, and I've started packing. Wow. Tomorrow's the last day I'll be in Germany. I've spent 113 days here. Wut?
Expect a post tomorrow on my last day, including my last Doner, my last AIB meeting, and my last day with my host family. I expect tears to be shed.
Erin Z
No comments:
Post a Comment